The North East: Cradle of the Railways. What next?

Public Lecture 23 October 2025

£15 members, £20 guests, £10 for students and apprentices

Includes tea/coffee and light bites

This year's N&N Public Lecture will take place in the Victoria Room of the Royal Station Hotel, Neville Street, Newcastle upon Tyne, on Thursday afternoon 23 October 2025 from 1.30pm-5.00pm.

As this year marks the 200th Anniversary of that momentous local railway event of 27 September 1825 that changed the world - the opening of the Stockton & Darlington Railway - we are focusing on local rail development under the title “The North East – Cradle of the Railways – What next?”

2025 will also see the completion of the final stations of the new Northumberland Line (Newcastle to Ashington), further roll-out of new trains for Tyne and Wear Metro as well as the exciting recent announcement of substantial Government funding towards the completion of the Metro loop via Washington from South Hylton back to Pelaw. We are delighted that Nexus, serving the new North East Combined Authority, has agreed to provide speakers for this event and has offered the following synopsis:

"Metro has been part of everyday life in the North East for 45 years, developed from a mix of Victorian rail infrastructure and innovative engineering solutions to create new structures, Metro has developed and evolved to meet the changing needs of the region. Join us for this talk to explore the history of Metro over the last 45 years, the challenges of maintaining and renewing such an eclectic system whilst continuing to provide a service to the travelling public and the exciting new projects on the horizon which will keep Metro at the heart of public transport in the region for the next 45 years and beyond.

Joining us will be Helen Mathews, Commercial Director at Nexus, who will talk about the history of the system and its interface with wider transport in the region from its opening in 1980 to the present day. Ben Brooks, Head of Engineering, will then take us through the challenges of maintaining and renewing the network.

Following the short refreshment break, Michael Richardson, Head of Fleet and Depot replacement, will share insight into the replacement fleet project, one of the biggest transformations of Metro since the system opened. We will close the presentations with a look forward to what the future holds for Metro with our 'Metro Go' and 'Metro to Washington' projects, the event ending with Questions and Answers.

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Host or Publisher Northumberland & Newcastle Society